


Sunken Ships

by Sinstigator



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: AU, Blood, Demons, Eventual Happy Ending, Fighting, Mermaids and monsters, Minor Character Death, Monsters, Other, Overwatch AU, Violence, an epic quest, because someone won't let me end it with sadness, death and destruction, its a big big world, some smuts later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-21
Updated: 2018-04-04
Packaged: 2019-02-04 21:58:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12780423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sinstigator/pseuds/Sinstigator
Summary: Monsters exist, its a fact. The only thing you can control is how you deal with them.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Just an au that I had an idea for, and got entirely too carried away with.

“Do you believe in monsters, kid?” The figure cocks its head to the side as it speaks, voice low and deathly serious.

No, there’s no such thing as monsters. You’re insane.

Those are the words that the boy wants to say, along with a slew of curses that would have any mother covering her child’s ears. But, he can’t, the words get stuck in his throat, and die before they even get close to his lips. Because, even if he doesn’t believe in the monsters that supposedly lurked under every child’s bed, there aren’t any other words to describe the thing writhing on the stone road before him. Pinned beneath the dark-clad form of a man wielding a rather large and intimidating silver gun. 

He hadn’t heard it coming, his attention on the contents of the elegantly crafted oak coffin at his feet, and the recently deceased man inside. Plucking anything that could be could be sold later. Buttons, jewelry, anything. He didn’t have the luxury of being picky. Not now. Not when there was no guarantee of when the next time he’d be able to afford food would be. His eyes had risen to survey the pale face of the many laying before him, frowning at his sleeping expression.

And that’s when he noticed it, like a ripple rolling through the water, except it wasn’t dispersing like an ordinary ripple would. It was just settled at the edge of the grave he’d been crouching in. He’d gone rigid as a stone, a heavy curtain of dread settling over him as the sky behind the mass became warped and distorted as it began to stretch. Descending into the grave with a soft squelch. The freshly disturbed earth flattening out as if it was pressed beneath an unseen weight. Five distinct notches dug into the earth at the head of the coffin a mere six feet in front of him, curling in deep.

Sweat gathered on the back of his neck, hairs standing at attention. He could feel eyes on him. Something was definitely there. Something he couldn’t see.

Whatever it was, it had lunged at him just as a hand had closed around the back of his shirt, yanking him out of the grave and tossing him to the hard ground like a sack of potatoes. The impact stealing the air from his lungs. But, he rolls, scrabbling to his feet as the thing still in the grave collides with the wall of earth with enough force that the very ground shook. An enraged howl rising up from below as it thrashed about in anger. 

A figure, clothed in black from head to toe, strolls past him, metal glinting at their side. Their face is cloaked in darkness, but his attention is once again on the upturned earth. From inside the grave, a hand appears, the color of clay, reaching over the edge and digging black-nailed fingers into the soft soil.

“You’re a long way from home, aren’t you?” The figure to his right sighed boredly, as if they’d rather be anywhere but here. The deep, rumbling timbre of their voice reverberating against his very bones. It gives them away, and there’s no doubt that the mysterious figure is indeed male. Standing at least three heads taller than himself, with a wide frame and an unwavering stance. Even as the creature begins to emerge from the grave. 

Teeth. It's littered with teeth. In fact, it wouldn’t be too far off to say that the thing is simply a mouth. Made up almost entirely of a gaping jaw from nose to navel. Though it had a nose, there were two tentacle-like appendages as thick as his arm sprouted from where its eyes should be. Glassy, marble-sized orbs dangling on the ends. The odor oozing that precedes it is beyond foul. Like rotting flesh and eggs combined. Regardless of the fact that his stomach is already empty, he feels his stomach churn in disgust.

As it lumbers to it's feet it's numerous teeth begin to twitch, moving back and forth independently of their neighbors. Each one has to be at least two inches in length, and curved inward to keep a hold of whatever they pierce. It body lists from side to side with every step, eyestalks swiveling this way and that before zeroing in on the black-clad stranger.

He wants to run, knows it's just about the only thing he can do, but his legs remain rooted to the ground. Unresponsive.

And then the creature lunges once more.

The thing is preternaturally fast, closing the distance between itself and the stranger before he can even blink, long sinuous arms outstretched, body stretching its horrific mouth open almost impossibly wide. It isn’t hard to see what it's goal is. 

The kid chokes on his scream as the thing produces one of the most gut-wrenching wail he’s ever heard. Grating and guttural, the very sound is scraping against his skull.. Clawing its way into his brain. He covers his ears, but it doesn’t help. 

The monster may be fast, but the man in black is faster. Twisting his way away from those outstretched claws with ease before lashing out and grabbing a hold of one those eyestalks and pulls. Wrenching the beast to the side in one quick motion. Confused, the creature screams, tripping over it's own legs as it was wrenched around and tossed to the ground once more.

The stranger snarls, a low, rumbling growl that in itself doesn't sound entirely human, boot slamming down on the back of the creature's shoulders. Pinning it to the earth so he could pull out that massively ornate gun. “Sorry to cut your meal short….But, we can't have you causing trouble around here anymore.” 

The blast is enormous, a cannon in the palm of his hand. Shredding through the monster’s flesh and bone as if it were nothing more than a soggy piece of parchment. Dark, oil-like blood splatters across the grass and stains the stone walkway. The thing convulses, limbs flailing without direction as more of its noxious blood oozes onto the earth. 

For something so horrifying, it's death was almost pitiful. Tiny, breathless wails falling from it's mouth as it struggled. Teeth gnashing as it blindly sought out it's prey. Sinuous body jerking as it gave one final bloody wail and fell still.

“Y-you killed it!” His own voice startles him, impossibly loud compared to the silence that had swallowed the area. His heart is still hammering in his chest, and his hands are shaking so much he fears they may never stop. But, the thing that attacked him is dead. It would’ve been him bleeding out on the ground if that black-clad stranger hadn’t appeared when he did. 

_Speaking of him…_ The boy’s gaze shifts from the corpse on the ground to the man above just in time to see the stranger step off the creature without a second glance, head swiveling this way and that. Scanning the small cemetery with slow, thorough movements. Footsteps light and cautious as the figure slowly makes it's way further and further away from the fresh corpse. 

His elation is short-lived, as his savior’s mannerisms become clearer with each passing second. The man isn’t just checking the graveyard, he’s surveying the area. Looking for something.

Hunting. 

_...There’s more of them._ Though the mere thought of more of those things slinking around the graveyard gives birth to a fresh wave of fear, it's the only thing that makes sense. Unless there are other, far more terrifying horrors lurking in the graveyard. And he didn’t want anything to do with either outcome. He’d already lifted enough for a few weeks, at least. And there’s no telling whether the man is going to turn him in for robbing graves in the first place. Better to split while he still has a chance. _Let him deal with the monsters, he doesn’t seem to be too far off from being one himself._ He turns to leave, intent on getting as far away as possible when yet another ripple catches his eye.

This one is low to the ground, slinking along the earth as it weaves it's way in between the worn gravestones. Quiet as a snake. It works it's way towards the stranger with single-minded determination, hopping up onto the dilapidated gravestones when the man stiffens and glances to his left. The creature freezes, balancing on a rather ornate gravestone, watching the dark clothed stranger thread his way through the graves. With every step, the distance between them closes.

Dread drops into the boy’s stomach like a stone, the weight nearly bringing him to his knees. The stranger makes a sweep of the area once more before returning his gaze to the ground. Eyes focused on the soft, undisturbed earth. _He...He can’t see them!_

It makes so much sense, he needed the thing to reveal itself, before he could kill it. Just like it had before. He was trying to track its footsteps, but this one was smart. Using the gravestones as a makeshift walkway.

No tracks on the stone. 

It rises to its full height as the man sinks to his knees, examining something in the dirt that had caught his eye. Oblivious to the impending doom looming over him. 

He doesn’t know what comes over him in that moment, what compels him to open his mouth. But the scream is already bubbling up in his chest, forcing it's way past his lips. “ON YOUR LEFT!”

The creature lunges. The stranger fires. And they both go crashing to the earth, rolling into one of the other graves he’d defaced earlier. Falling onto the coffin with the sound of splintering wood.

He bolts, gunning for the grave even as his mind screams for him to run in the other direction. If the man’s shot had missed, he could be in trouble. If that thing had gotten a hold of him….He slowed at the grave’s edge, dread causing his gut to tighten like a vice.

If the shot had missed, that man could very well be dead, and serving as a well-deserved snack for whatever that thing was. He swallowed hard, hands curling into fists at his side.

He should leave. Just back away and leave, right now. Pretend that he’d never seen any of this. Invisible monsters and black-clad men wielding massive hand cannons like it was nothing...

Even against his better judgment he finds himself kneeling at the grave’s edge, peering into the dark depths with a dry mouth and sweaty palms. The darkness is still and thick, devouring any ounce of movement or light.

He can’t see any of the ripples either.

“Hey….” His own voice sounds pathetic. Small and fragile in the silence. Sweat beads on his forehead as the seconds pass and he doesn’t get a reply. With each passing moment, his heart beats faster, slamming itself against his rib cage like a caged bird. “Are you de-”

-A hand appears from the darkness, gloved, not the same clay-colored flesh as that monster, but it makes him jump regardless. A less than dignified sound filling the air as the man hauled himself out of the grave with ease. Brushing dirt and bloody splinters from his coat with a grimace.

Recovering from his scare, and trying to save face, the boy struggles to his knees, a shaky grin overtaking his face “So, you didn’t bite the dust after all.”

The man pauses, regarding him slowly before holstering those massive guns of his. He doesn’t reply immediately, taking to circling him with long even strides. The kid is a scrawny thing, dressed in a tattered shirt too thin for the crisp autumn night and faded brown trousers that have seen better days. The smudged dirt on his face and under his nails clues him in on just how long he’s been on his own. Clawing out a living in a place where it was nearly impossible to do so alone.

When the man finally does speak, his voice is barely above a whisper, but the tone is clear. He expected an answer, and lying to him wouldn’t be in the boy’s best interest. “You can see them, can’t you? Those demons?” 

Demons. He couldn’t ignore how well the name fit, aside from just monsters he hadn’t known how to refer to them. But, actual demons? It was like he was trapped in a dream. Soon he would wake up somewhere cold and damp from the morning fog, hunger clawing at his gut.

But, this is no dream.

The boy swallows hard, tongue prodding at rough and chapped lips as he searches for the right words, “Those..things you mean? Sort...of?” He frowns, eyebrows furrowing as he tries to describe the scene. “I can’t see them, not clearly at least. It's more like a...ripple in a pool of water, but without the water. They just seem...out of place.”

The man remains silent for a moment, turning away to glance back into the grave, “Pisaca.” 

“Huh?” 

“It's what those things are called.” The stranger motions towards the grave with a snort, disdain obvious in their voice, “You’re lucky I was here. If that thing hadn’t killed you, it's curse would have.”

He wasn’t sure whether he should laugh or take the man at his word. If monsters like that could exist, why couldn’t curses?

“Tell me, kid. Your parents know you’re out here robbing graves?” The man chuckles darkly when the boy goes rigid, confirming his suspicions all at once. An orphan, or a runaway. Either way, they wouldn’t be missed. And one who has the sight no less… 

The boy raises his head eyes flashing defiantly, “What’s it to you?” 

With a sigh, the man, reached into one of the many pockets on his coat and pulled out a small pouch, bouncing the thing in his hand.

The telltale clink of coins colliding against each other within the fabric was quick to catch the kid’s attention.

“What do you say to a little job, kid? Pays well, highly dangerous...you might even die...” He tosses the pouch and grins wickedly as the boy scrambles to snatch it out of the air. Ripping the thing open just to peer inside and confirm that his ears aren’t playing tricks on him. And the way his eyes bulge at the small collection of gold and silver coins is amusing, to say the least. “But, it will keep you from being thrown in jail for grave robbing.” 

On cue, shouts emerge from the south, pinpricks of light coming into view as lanterns are lit, and people begin to traverse the long winding road up to the graveyard. No doubt to investigate the noise.

“Shit!” He whirls around so fast he nearly drops the pouch, only to find the black-clad figure already a ways ahead of him, tearing through the graves with amazing speed. “Hey!”

“Choice is yours, but If you’re coming hurry up, kid!” 

He doesn’t even offer him a glance as he begins barking orders, and in truth, there’s only ever been one option ever since the choice was offered to him. Pulling the drawstring closed with his teeth, the boy lurches forward as well, Slipping into a run that has the approaching townsfolk moving farther and farther away before long. He’s lost sight of the man in the darkness, but he knows he’s there. He can still feel his eyes on him. So he takes a large gulp of air and shouts at his new employer, “My name’s not kid! It's McCree, Jesse McCree! Get it straight!”

Somewhere far off ahead of him Jesse hears a laugh, deep and amused sprout up from within the darkness. “Whatever you say, kid.”


	2. Ice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The two begin the long trek to the city of Yrodon, but there are dangers that make themselves known during the day as well.

The man’s name is Gabriel, or at least that’s what he says to call him when night has fallen once more, and they’ve finally put enough distance between themselves and what remained of the dying town of Naporia. It was almost too small to be called a town, more of a village actually. Nestled between the forest’s edge and a canyon wall. The wall of rock provided natural cover, but also brought with it a problem. There was only one way in and out of Naporia...unless you somehow sprouted wings and learned to fly.

And that little shortcoming was the cause of the little village’s downfall. They’d been struggling ever since the supply line had been cut off. No one had realized just how important that weekly shipment was until the wagons suddenly stopped. Overrun by low lifes and bandits who’d set their sights on the lightly defended town.

Truthfully, there had only been a handful of able bodied people in Naporia to begin with, and after the first group they had sent out to deal with the troublemakers didn’t return, things started to take a turn for the worse.

The mayor didn’t know how to accept defeat, and thought that the answer to their little problem was to simply throw more bodies at it. Trying and failing to raise the spirits of the remaining townsfolk with every group he sent to their deaths. Voice so powerful and laced with confidence that it almost made you believe his words.

“There couldn’t possibly be more than a handful of them left now!” 

Jesse snorted as the words rang in his ears. _He was right on that account at least, the old bastard._

He’d been too consumed with revenge for what had been done to his only son to think of anything else. Hadn’t even batted an eyelash at the thought of using the citizens of his own town to make it happen. As though they hadn’t lost loved ones of their own when he’d forced them to fight.

As if Jesse hadn’t lost friends and family of his own.

That was his whole reason for heading to the graveyard that night. The dead had no use for gold, but he did. And there was something else he’d gone to find that night. The foreign wight in his back pocket was strangely comforting. But, a harsh reminder all the same.

This wasn’t a dream, and everything wasn’t going to magically be ok. 

His mother was dead.

Gunned down on the very steps of their small, rickety excuse for a house. Her blood was still there, clinging to the stone steps as if it knew where it was, and wasn’t about to let death tear it away from the home she’d worked all her life to build. 

They’d laughed when she’d choked on it, the crimson liquid staining her teeth. But, still she cursed them, didn’t cry, didn’t beg….was one of the few who still had the balls to even try to stand up to those bastards.

And all she got for her bravery was a bullet through her skull.

The stinging in his eyes should’ve angered him, just like the way his throat tightened and threatened to steal away his breath. His mother hadn’t cried when she’d locked him in their cellar, the one with the old rusted lock that he’d learned how to pick years ago. She had merely hugged him and told him to stay quiet. She should have known that he was just as stubborn as her, and wouldn’t just sit around waiting until things were over. He’d come to help her, how he still didn’t know. But he had wanted to do **something.**

But, there was nothing he could do but stand by and watch as they killed his mother. He remembered everything, the way her hair clung to her sweat soaked face, their laughter, and the hatred burning in her eyes. Her eyes were bone dry, even when she was staring down that barrel.

The ground is cold and hard, not at all forgiving when it comes to tired limbs. And their meager fire had already burned itself down to a few smoldering coals barely able to hold back the chill creeping in the air. Only now, under the cover of darkness does he finally give in, bury his face into the rough, scratchy material of his bag and let himself think about what he’s done.

He’s run away from home. **Their** home. The one his mother built with her own two hands. From the only town he’s known, and barely two days after they put her in the ground. 

Jesse’s sigh is nothing more than a shaky exhale, and that’s the only warning he gets before the tears come. The first sob so powerful he nearly chokes on it. Has to clamp his hand over his mouth to stifle the rest. Why did he have to cry here? Why now?

Why wasn’t he able to be strong like her?

What the hell was he even doing here? With this guy he didn’t even know? 

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * 

Gabriel turns his back on the kid after he curls up by what remains of their sorry fire. Meandering a few feet away in order to give him some semblance of privacy. He’d seen the sorry state Naporia had been in. 

The earth had reeked of madness and death. It's what had drawn him to the village in the first place. Calling out to him like a lover’s voice on the wind. And no matter how hard he tried to ignore it's call, it refused to relinquish its hold on him. 

He was a leech on the light that was life, what the hell was he doing taking that kid along with him?

Gabriel clenches his jaw and does his best to block out the weakening sobs coming from behind him. _Maybe Ana will know what to do with him._

Yes, the woman had a hand in every pie in Iphagos, surely she would have somewhere the kid could be shipped off to. Somewhere….Less likely to be targeted by bandits. He might’ve offered the kid a job, but he was starting to have second thoughts about the whole situation.

Surely things would’ve been better for him there. He could have packed up with the rest of the survivors and headed somewhere new-had a fresh start. Now that the bandits had been taken care of there was nothing keeping them there if they chose to leave. Instead, he was here, mourning the loss of what Gabriel could only guess was his family. Probably not even buried yet.

The man sighed and raised his head upwards, crimson eyes drinking up the faint light filtering down through the canopy. Already he could feel the dull ache in his soul returning. He didn’t need the added weight of looking out for some kid weighing on his mind right now. 

Especially if he couldn’t-

-A twig snaps, jerking Gabriel out of his thoughts, something he’s secretly grateful for. It wasn’t often that he was so easily pulled from dark thoughts such as those, and a little action would do him some good right about now. His coat flares as he whirls around, the worn leather rustling softly as the familiar weight of his guns register in his hands. His gaze falls on the space just to his left, a small space between two trees.

Time seemed to screech to a halt in the darkened forest, not a sound could be heard. Even Jesse’s whimpers had faded away.

All was silent.

But, he knows something is there, the thrum echoing in his blood wouldn’t lead him astray-not now. He can smell their life, hear their rapidly beating heart less than a yard away.

Shyly, almost tentatively something shifts in the darkness. A thin hoof poking it's way through the trees, followed close behind by a lean body covered in short brown fur.

A deer.

A wave of relief and embarrassment washes over Gabriel and he lets his arms drop to his sides. Suddenly feeling over prepared as the gentle creature glances at him before turning it's attention to the sparse foliage around them

“....Just a deer.” he mumbles lowly. Watching as the thing continues to nibble away. The clawing pangs of hunger returning stronger the longer he watched. An idea slowly forming in his mind.

They had a long journey ahead of them before they would reach the city of Yrodon, and even longer to Iphagos, where he could hand the boy over to Ana.

And they would need to eat as well…. 

He slips his guns back into their holsters with ease, taking care to move slowly and with as little sound as possible. The pull doesn’t hurt as much this time, since he’d just eaten, but the pressure in his gut is still there. Twisting and turning until it felt like his organs and stomach were compressed into a ball of lead in his gut.

The darkness shifts, breathes as it reacts to his command, brought to life once more.

The deer starts, sensing it's doom and tries to bolt. But there’s nowhere for it to run, surrounded as it is in his domain. 

He’d feel sorry for it if he wasn’t so hungry.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * 

Jesse is awakened by the the heavy thud of a body hitting the floor, snatched out of the dreamless sleep by the sound. Eyes snapping open he flails for a moment before regaining control of his limbs and is finally able to pull himself up into a sitting position. The warmth of the newly revitalized fire feels good against the chilly autumn air. 

Gabriel stands just on the other side of the flames, an imposing figure in the early morning light. The flames reflected in his eyes give them a reddish hue, like there’s an inferno of his own burning behind those irises. For a split second he swears they actually are glowing, bright red coals sunken deep within the man’s skull. But, he blinks and it's gone, quick as a shadow. And Gabriel is motioning towards the carcass of a deer lying nearby.

“You know how to skin a deer, kid?” 

Jesse blinks, mind still moving at a crawl so soon after waking up. His mouth is painfully dry and just the thought of deer meat send a ripple of hunger through his gut. He hadn’t eaten anything since the day before, and all that running around had really worn him down.

Gabriel’s voice is low when he speaks again, a hiss that he can barely make out above the crackling of the wood. His patience is not at it's highest right now. “Well?”

Jesse snorts as he wipes his face on his sleeve, finally awake enough for his usual smug attitude to return, “What, you don’t?” 

The man is silent for a heartbeat before answering again, voice much harsher than before, “I don’t eat….deer.” He adds on the last bit like an afterthought, arms crossed as he silently daring Jesse to say something else.

“Didn’t take you for a picky eater.” The comment hangs in the air as he starts digging through the small pack that held his belongings. Nothing more than a few knick knacks and some spare clothes that he’d managed to grab on the way out. But, the knife is there, the worn handle rubbing against his palm just like all the other times he’d used it when he finally gets to work.

The blood is still warm when the knife first kisses the flesh, oozing out over his arms in a leisurely pace that soon has the ground beneath his boots slick and saturated with the crimson liquid. The smell of fresh meat heavy in the crisp morning air, but Jesse works fast. Taking only what he knows he can carry while setting some aside for breakfast. The work is tiring, but it's meticulous in a way that requires all of his attention for the time being. He’s always enjoyed things like this, working with his hands. And right now he could use the distraction that it usually provided.

Gabriel was settled nearby, perched at the foot of a massive tree like some kind of black cloaked ghost. If it wasn’t for the occasional blink, one might have mistaken him for a statue, or some kind of monster. The leather material of his hood had been worn soft over the years. Bleached by the sun and harsh weather. It barely made a sound when he finally raised his head after what felt like eons. “We’re leaving as soon as you finish. There’s a lot of ground we need to cover.”

“You haven’t even told me where we’re going,” Jesse counters. The meat is tough, not nearly what he’s used to back at home, but he won’t complain. It's all he has. If he were still back home he would’ve been able to whip up something nice.

“Iphagos, the port city to the far east.” Gabriel replies cooly. “But first, we have to make it to Yrodon.” 

“Yrodon is….the capital, right?” Jesse lickes his fingers before wiping what remains on his pants, “Do we really need to go there first?”

Gabriel gets to his feet in one smooth motion, a short bark of laughter escaping before he cuts himself off. “You haven’t done much traveling, have you , kid? You haven’t forgotten about those Pisacas already, have you?”

A shiver travels down the boy’s spine at the mention of those monsters. No, he hadn’t forgotten about them, how could he? But, did that mean they could run into even more of them on the way?

“By the look on your face, I can see that you finally understand what I’m getting at.” Gabriel continues. “I may have these guns, and I know how to use them, but Pisacas aren’t the only dangers we’ll face outside city walls.”

Jesse hates the way the man smirks as the words fall from his lips. Knowing all too well just how uncomfortable the thought of those things made him. And now he was saying there were monsters that were far worse roaming around out here wasn’t helping. All he could do was swallow his pride and shovel the rest of the meat into his mouth as quickly as he could without choking.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * 

Autumn had come and gone, and winter was in full force by the time Gabriel had said that they were even remotely close to Yrodon. The brightly colored leaves now covered in a thin sheet of frost shattered beneath the heel of Jesse’s boot as he fought to keep the man’s pace. He moved like he had an endless amount of stamina. Boots crunching endlessly in front of him while Jesse’s lungs burned with every breath of cold air he took.

But, things weren’t as bad as they’d used to be. In the beginning he’d barely been able to keep up, having to resort to begging Gabriel for a break every three hours or so. Now, well, he still wasn’t capable of keeping up with him. But he could make it half a day at least. And his muscles didn’t scream at him after every hill they climbed.

His breath clouded in the air, and he took a moment to breathe into his hands, warming them from the constant chill that seemed to have settled into his bones for the past few days. And Jesse was immensely grateful for the coat he’s bought in the last village they’d passed through. The wool more than warm enough to combat the chill of early winter.

But, that was all.

It wouldn’t be nearly enough if it actually got any colder than this. Winters were mild in Naporia, and he'd never seen snow. The frozen liquid was beautiful to look at, but stung as soon as you stopped paying attention to it. But, a few icy fingers would be the least of their worries. What little supplies they had were beginning to run low again. Well, what little supplies he had. 

Gabriel had yet to so much as eat a mouthful of solid food in the month or so that they’d been traveling together. Always claiming that he didn’t eat this, or that it wasn’t suitable for his stomach. But, he drank water like a fish, guzzling down at least a gallon at a time anytime they came upon a fresh water source. At first Jesse has chalked it up to him being picky, but now he was beginning to wonder. Gabriel was usually the one who brought back the food-deer, rabbits, or whatever he could. But, he never took any for himself.

Eyes the color of warm honey honed in on the black clad figure trudging along a few paces in front of him. Suspicion growing in his gut like a sickness. He hasn't thought twice about leaving with this man, nor had he questioned anything the man told him after the incident back at the graveyard. Jesse hid when he said, and they moved on his order.

But, he still didn't really know who Gabriel was, or what he wanted. Or what he planned to do with him.

And the more he lingered on those thoughts the harder it is to think of anything else. 

Suddenly, Gabriel stops. The tips of his metal toed boots scraping against the hard ice. Before him extends a massive lake encrusted with ice and a fresh layer of snow. A sparse littering of trees sat on the other side. Still green even with their heavy coat of snow. Somewhere far off in the distance the sound of rushing water can be heard over the desolate winds that stir up the loose snow.

Jesse follows suit, the untrodden snow crunching beneath his boot. Frigid winds stinging his cheeks. He frowns as his eyes scan the area, taking in the icy scenery before returning his gaze to the man before him. “Now what? I thought you said we were close.”

“Use your eyes, boy.” A gloved finger raises points upwards toward a hill just barely visible behind the treetops. Between two trees a single plume of grey smoke lists idly upwards. “Yrodon lies just in the other side of this lake.” 

“We going around?” Jesse asks, readjusting the pack slung over his shoulder. “Might make it by nightfall if we hurry.”

“No,” The click of the safety on his guns is loud, impeccably so. But all sound seems to vanish when Gabriel turns to point one of those massive things at him. “You’re going to run.” 

The sound is deafening, an explosion of heat and fire near his face that leaves his ears ringing. He screams, but there’s no sound as he wrenches his body to the side, hands flying up to his ears. The wind stings.

And then something heavy drops to the earth where he’d been standing moments before. The stench of singed flesh and blood clouding the air. The beast is hideous, a hunched over thing covered in writhing fur and far too many eyes to ever be necessary. It wheezes through the hole in it's face that probably serves as a mouth, clawed feet raking through the snow. 

Gabriel continues firing, arms tensing as the recoil rockets through his body. Snarling with every shot that hits it's mark. There are more, hundreds more. Bursting through the underbrush, hauling themselves over rocks. Trampling the bodies of their fallen kin.

Bile rises in Jesse’s throat, and he stumbles backwards, cold sweat dribbles down his back. How long had these things been following them? Why hadn’t he seen them? His hand inches towards his back pocket, clammy fingers seeking out the weight that’s been his only source of comfort these past few months.

One of them darts to the side, bypassing Gabriel entirely and heading straight for him. Grotesque body skittering against the frozen grass like a bullet. His fingers close around the handle of his mother’s gun just as it launches itself into the air. Green tinted saliva oozing from it's maw.

And is promptly shot out of the sky by yet another blow from those massive shotguns.

“What the the hell are you doing!?” Gabriel shouts, “Run!” 

Those words seem to free him from the temporary paralysis he’d fallen into like a slap to the face. Stumbling backwards Jesse bolts onto the wide expanse of the lake, legs pounding against the thick ice. The sounds of gunfire and the pained screams of those creatures not too far behind.

Gabriel moves as he shoots, sliding backwards across the ice as he paints the lake’s surface with corpses and purple blood. He’d hoped they would’ve been inside the safety of the walls before the pack woke up for their evening hunt. But, apparently he’d thought wrong. “Keep running! Get to the other side!” 

Jesse doesn’t need to be told a third time, slipping and sliding across the slick surface. The opposite bank is almost within reach. Once he was back on dry land he’d have a better chance of outrunning them.

Something knocks his legs right out from under him, sending him crashing to the ground. Stars exploding in front of his eyes as his head slams into the ice with a sickening crack. The world spins, the ground shifts beneath him. He can hear Gabriel’s voice rise about the chorus of grunts and growls, demanding he get up. Urging him to move. But those things are on him before Jesse can even take a breath. Hooked teeth tearing at his coat-pulling at his hair. It's all he can do to protect his face while he kicks at them, tries to fend them off.

He can’t die here-he won’t. If he can just get his mother’s gun-

-The tremor that shakes the ice even gives the beasts pause. They freeze, all of them. Silence overtaking them as their deformed ears twist this way and that. Hackles rising with every second that goes by.

Something is wrong.

Something slams into the ice with enough force that Jesse bounces on the surface. The ice splinters, a spiderweb of cracks spiralling outward from where he lays. The beasts scatter, abandoning their prey in favor of their lives just as something comes bursting forth from beneath the dark water.

Something enormous.

The thing that rises from the water is gargantuan, so large that it's head blocks out the sun from where Jesse lays. Body smooth and long, it's covered in dark, interlocking scales with a lighter stripe running down it's back. These scales pulse rhythmically as the new creature thrashes it's head back and forth flinging blood down from on high. 

It's only then that Jesse hears the screams. The sound so gut wrenching that it births a fresh set of goosebumps on his flesh. Something is trapped in the things massive jaws. Something with arms and a long finned tail. 

Something that isn’t dead yet.

There’s the sound of splitting flesh and a bellow so loud he can feel it in his bones. The black beast wrenches it's head back and drops whatever it's holding in its jaws onto the ice with a sickening crack. The sorry thing landing less than a yard away from where Jesse still lays. Stunned.

At first glance the thing looks like a man. It has a man’s face, eyes and mouth. But it's not a man. Men don’t have scales on their brows or those horizontal slits on their necks. And they certainly don’t have fins where their legs should be. 

Blood pumps out of the gash in it's neck, sliding across the ice with ease. It twitches, webbed hands digging into the ice with black tipped nails. It's eyes are bright, eerily so. Even as the light fades from them and they lose their spark.

Those vacant eyes are the last things Jesse sees before the ice gives way beneath him and he tumbles into the inky black waters. The frigid waters striking his limbs like lightning and locking them in place. He gasps, a fatal mistake as all of his air is stolen by the lake in one go.

A pulse of light shoots through the darkness, twisting and winding as it traverses the length of the black scaled creature, traveling down as far as his eyes can see. It's cries can still be heard even as he sinks further and further into the darkness. Weighed down by water laden clothes and equipment.

Jesse’s eyes roll upward, towards the blinding brightness of the ice and the sun beyond it. There against the white expanse of the frozen lake he sees another one of those smaller finned creatures. But this one is smaller, much smaller. Pulling at the mutilated remains of the one that had fallen into the water with him. That thing that just barely resembled a hand clutched by two smaller ones. The piercing wails of that thing muffled by the water in his ears. Their forms dark against the ever growing balloon of crimson.

Darkness begins to invade his vision, splotches of nothing against the white and the red. His lungs burn, and he sees his mother’s face once again. Bruised, beaten and caked with her own blood.

This time he doesn’t wonder why he couldn’t be as strong as her.

He wonders if she would’ve been proud of him.

For leaving.

For abandoning the home she'd built, and the people he'd known all his life.

For not being able to do anything, again.


	3. Enter The Witch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jesse wakes up in an unfamiliar room, in an unfamiliar town, and Gabe is nowhere to be seen. Instead, he finds himself in the care of a witch who values secrets above all else. Or so it seems

Kallista was not pleased.

No, in fact, it would be more accurate to say that she was furious. There was an unconscious boy she didn’t even know in her spare room, and the man who’d dumped him on her was nowhere to be found.

Why was she expected to take care of this kid? And what the hell had they been doing to warrant those kinds of injuries in the first place? Anyone with a brain would know that the ice on lake Elviral was dangerously thin this time of year.

And to top it all off, the boy had been covered in bite marks, deep puncture wounds that left the surrounding flesh a sickly green color. The stench of the corresponding drainage was enough to make her want to lose her lunch. The wounds were still fresh, barely a few hours old. And yet infection was already spreading as if it had been weeks.

There were only a few creatures Kallista knew of in the surrounding area that had a bite that toxic….And hellhound attacks had been on the rise ever since the last summer had proven to be warmer than usual. The added heat always made it easier for them to breed. And prey wasn’t as scarce compared to the winter months.

Kallista sighed as she felt her agitation flare to life once more. Not only did she have to nurse this unnamed kid back to life from hypothermia. But, she had to combat the venom from all the hellhound bites he’d suffered as well.

“And without so much as a thank you, I might add.” 

Something shifts just outside of her field of vision, twisting on the cold brick wall. The only proof she has that she’s not talking to herself.  
Her frown only deepens as goes about her business, pulverizing the herbs with more force than necessary. “No contact of any kind for months, and then you just show up and push some kid on me?”

A sharp snap pulls the woman out of her anger just enough to realize the ceramic bowl in her hands has begun to crack beneath the weight of her emotions. Spider Web like cracks spreading across the bowl like some sort of jagged lifeline. A fresh curse falls from the woman’s lips, and she turns to grab a fresh one from the shelf. Mind pulling the events of just a few days prior back up from the recesses of her mind. Unbidden. 

But her mind had other plans, forcing her to replay the memories yet again. Analyzing every detail once more, just to make sure she hadn’t missed anything.  
And yet, things remained the same no matter how many times she reviewed them. No matter the angle.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Kallista had just barely woken up from a rather unsatisfying nap. Body and mind still sluggish as she stood in the little alcove that housed her stove. Reigniting the dead embers with just a flick of her wrist before hanging her kettle over the awakened flames.

Night had been falling, the last remnants of light fading from the sky. Turning the splendid blend of reds, oranges, and pinks into the mass of darkness that signaled the end of the day. Time for people to return home to their families and a delicious meal to keep them warm throughout the night.

And yet, Kallista’s day was just beginning. While the rest of the city slept, she was hard at work, Collecting the secrets that had slipped from loose lips during the bustling daytime hours and selling them for profit. Secrets, rumors, lies, she hoarded them all and shared them with whoever came knocking at her door.

For a price, of course. 

Coin was always accepted, but knowledge could be just as valuable. And right now she was in need of some of her own. Kallista was in need of materials, ones that weren’t easy to come by. Even for her.

The shrill cry of the kettle pulled her attention away from work long enough for her to pour the scalding water into a cup. She was antsy, upset that a year had already passed and she was still no closer to gathering all the materials she needed.

Atlus had purred from his perch along the windowsill, the shadow cat’s emerald eyes glinting as it made its way down to the ground. Hopping from the window down to the chipped and uneven brick before slinking to the floor. Flat and as silent as the shadows his kind were named after, the familiar made its way across the small house to settle on the table where his master was residing. 

Those bright eyes brought a smile to her lips despite the worry still clawing at the back of her mind, and she reached out to run an affectionate finger across the section of the table where the feline’s head lay. “If we don’t get a break soon, I might be forced to take them up on their offer….” The words ring hollow as they fall from her lips, a figurative noose around her neck that tightens every day that ends empty-handed. 

At that, her thoughts go dark. Even if she was able to get her hands on the items she was so desperately seeking, what then? There was no guarantee that her calculations were correct, she was just going off of age-old rumors in dusty tomes and hearsay. 

If this didn’t work...If this didn’t work, she would have nothing left.

Atlus crooned from where he’s curled around the shadow of her cup, soaking up the residual warmth before it goes rigid. Eyes swiveling to focus on the main door a mere few feet to the left.

His reaction doesn’t go unnoticed, and Kallista is already on her feet before the first snarl of warning filled the room. Anticipation shifting over to adrenaline as the last shreds of light finally disappear from the sky entirely. The room darkens, and for a moment all she has is the flickering shadows of the flames in her stove before the candles suspended from the ceiling sprung to life. Bathing the room in soft orange light once more.

But, the light went ignored, shoved to the wayside as the very air around her begins to tremble and grow heavy. Saturated with a sensation of raw power that had the hairs on the back of Kallista’s neck standing on end. Beside her, Atlus howls as he slinks down to the floor, claws sinking into the hard stone as his body wriggled its way into the third dimension to stand before his master. 

Something slammed into the door with enough force to shake the entire house, impact shaking dust and dirt from the rafters. Her hut groans and through the rattling windows she saw the familiar blue glow of the spell carved into the outside flare to life. Knocking back whatever was outside with a blast of raw magic.

Whatever it was, it was in no way human.

Her spells had no effect on normal people unless their hearts were completely consumed with ill intentions directed towards herself. They were designed specifically to protect her home from invasion of the non-human variety.

But, until now, she’d never had to test their limits.

The creature shrieked but was not held off by the sting for long. Throwing itself against her door once more. All Kallista can see from inside is a large black mass that blocks out even the dim light that the city’s torches would’ve offered. 

It was huge, whatever it was.

The wooden door began to bend and crack, wood splintering beneath the constant pressure. Magic wards screaming as they did their best to fight against the intrusion only to fizzle out and fade one by one when their power failed them. She feels them disappear, fade into nothingness before the power she’d placed within them comes rushing back to her with each destroyed rune.

It courses through her veins before gathering in the tips of her fingers. The same blue glow as outside sparking around the flesh as she made a fist.

Another ward faded with an eerie sizzle just as another crack appeared in the door. Long and jagged, running diagonally across its length. The thing was on its last legs.

Kallista raised her hand, electricity bright and blue illuminating the room as she pointed it toward her door. “Ready, Atlus?” His accompanying snarl brings a tentative smirk to her lips. I hope you’re ready... I don’t take kindly to uninvited guests.

The door caves inward with a crash loud enough to rattle her teeth. Atlus darts forward and out into the blackness seconds before the sparks gathered and lightning surged from Kallista’s fingers.

Her aim was spot on, striking the creature dead on the shoulder as it hunkered down to peer through the hole it had just created. Tearing the pale grey flesh from its torso and scorching the wound on contact. It screamed, the sound ghastly and hollow as it jerked backward and slammed into the outside of her house, dislodging a few bricks in the process.

“You should’ve learned your lesson when you hit the ward around my house the first time.” She had snarled, raising her hand for another blow when the thing had righted itself once more.

It was a long, sinewy thing. Seemingly made up of skin pulled taut over layers of bone that were cracked and broken in places. Its torso seemed to closely resemble that of a human, with an exposed ribcage and distended shoulders that connected to four thin arms topped with bony fingers. It had no legs to stand on, just a mass of writhing tentacles that refused to stay still. Its face was blank, a smooth featureless mask that only made the countless newly opened crimson eyes staring down at her even more disturbing.

But, not so disturbing as the fact that the monstrous figure looming outside of her home was one Kallista had seen before-one she knew all too well. Nothing could make her forget that ghastly visage.

The creature gasps as it rights itself, it’s upper right arm hanging uselessly at its side. The charred flesh still smoking from where her lightning had struck. But, it’s the second arm that catches her attention, curled in against the thin body. Almost as if it was holding something.

“Gabriel?” She swallows hard as her voice breaks the tentative silence. Wincing only slightly when every single one of those crimson eyes swivel around to focus on her. But, the creature, Gabriel, remains still aside from the tentacles shifting beneath his weight. “Gabriel, can you….do you understand what I’m saying?”

He doesn’t reply-she’s not even fully sure if he can at this point. But the eyes remain locked on her as she takes a tentative step forward.

Kallista continues talking, trying to pull information out of him while he remained particularly docile. “Why were you trying to get into my house like that? You know I’ve given you permission to enter.”

Gabriel shifts, hunkering down on his left side before carefully dropping what he was cradling in his right arm into the ground with a gentleness that’s unheard of from his kind. The brown cloak it’s wrapped in has been torn to shreds and stained dark with fresh blood. 

From where she stands, Kallista can only make out a mop of dirty brown hair. Her blood runs cold as her eyes roam over the figure on the ground. Moving closer she can make out a leg, the flesh torn and bloody. And each second that passes only cements her suspicions.

It’s a young boy, and from the look of his injuries, he’s not long for this world.

“Gabriel…” Kallista can barely speak as she kneels beside the unconscious boy, wincing as she peels the blood-soaked fabric from the boy’s face, “What happened?”  
The child is beaten and bruised, wrapped in what appears to at one point have been a wool coat, now ragged and stained dark with blood and some other substance. Face and lips a dark blue and lifeless despite the wet, gurgling breaths that slid past his lips. He was still alive, but barely.

Gabriel shifts, hovering over the two as he begins to speak. _“Please.”_ A death walker's tone is harsh on the human psyche a hiss that seeps into the cracks of minds and bears down on the thing as a whole. Grinding down the resistances until nothing was left to keep the fear and dread from consuming their prey. 

It's their voice that strikes fear into the hearts of those they’re hunting, not their visage. But, Kallista is no stranger to Gabriel’s voice and has long since built up a tolerance to it's disastrous effects. Both through magic and training. 

_“I need you to take him.”_

Her fingers flutter over his throat, checking for a pulse before she even realizes the creature had spoken. “Take him? What the hell even happened!?” Magic pours from her fingers, breathing life into the child’s flesh as Gabriel moves away, arms folded in on himself and darkness converging around his form.

He shakes his head, crimson eyes downcast as he vanishes into the darkness.

~ * ~ * ~ * 

Kallista sighs as she finally returns to the present. Still, she can’t seem to find any clues to where Gabriel might have gone, or when he would return. And she was beyond worried at this point.

A warbling cry pulls Kallista from her slowly darkening thoughts and towards the doorway to her spare room instead. Atlus cries once more, agitation evident in the way he stalks back and forth along the stone wall. 

Ice blue eyes glance down at the contents of the bowl in her hands. Looking over the crushed herbs with begrudging interest.

It's time for another dose of the boy’s medicine. 

The shadow beats her to the room, slinking around the corner and making his way up onto the bed before she even takes two full steps. Yet another annoyed cry urging her to action. 

“Oh, be quiet.” Frowning, the woman makes her way into the room in her left. Giving the contents of the bowl one final stir before placing it on the nearby end table .“Honestly, you’re fretting over him more than I am.”

The shadow simply cocks its head in return, jade eyes narrowing in an oddly smug expression.

Even with all of her concoctions, the boy’s recovery had been slowed by the vicious toxins from the hellhounds. Some of the wounds might never fully heal, simply cover themselves with a thick layer of scar tissue, while the others would surely leave behind vicious scars of their own.

But, scars are better than death. Scars prove just how close you came to being dragged down to your doom. They’re proof that you’ve survived where others would have fallen.

Two weeks. It had been two weeks since Gabriel had dropped the boy on her doorstep, leaving his life in her hands before disappearing to who knows where. Since then, he’d woken up a number of times, but had never been able to maintain consciousness for long. Eyes wide, glassy and unfocused, yet obviously searching for something as they darted around the small stone room. The toxin had left him weak, eating away at his strength almost as quickly as he could reclaim it.

He hadn’t spoken at all, not one word. Just laid there, staring, until the darkness of sleep claimed him once more.

Lips pursed in annoyance, Kallista turned her attention to the stack of bandages behind her. They needed to be soaked in the poultice before being applied. “Just how long does he expect me to babysit you?”

“I don’t...need a damn baby….sitter.”

Kallista starts, fabric tumbling from her fingers as she whirls to face the voice. The boy is awake, eyes clear and focused for once. They’re dark and wide as he surveys the room.

A cornered animal searching for an escape route, or a familiar face.

She recovers first, snatching the fallen bandages off the ground before approaching the bed, “Finally awake are we?”

“....Who’re you?” He winces, the mere act of talking agitating the swollen wounds on his throat. “Where….am I?” 

“You’re in my home.” Kallista’s response is short and to the point. “Gabriel left you with me after the two of you had a run in with what appears to be quite a few hellhounds. Without so much as a thank you, I might add.” Though her tone is flippant, the woman’s gaze is piercing. And she doesn’t miss the flicker of recognition that shoots across the boy’s face at the mention of those beasts. 

But he recovers just as quickly, face settling into one of slight discomfort, “Hope you’re not expecting anything in return...cause I ain’t got much.”

“You can keep your money,” she replies coolly. Turning to dip the bandages into the pale yellow poultice she’d prepared earlier. “What I want are answers.” 

Jesse is a stubborn boy, with a smart mouth and a sharp tongue. But, he’s smart enough to realize that he should be grateful for the fact that Kallista had been keeping him alive all this time. And while he may not trust the strange woman whose house he’d woken up in, he can’t deny the fact that he has nowhere else to stay in a city he’s never seen. 

He heals, Kallista probes and Gabriel is nowhere to be seen.

But, soon enough the four stone walls surrounding his sickbed have become so achingly familiar that he fears he may lose his mind. There’s nothing to do but sleep. Kallista only grows more and more frustrated as the days pass, strength being used for applying something she refers to as ‘wards’ to the stone slabs framing the door to her home. Claiming that the process is draining, but necessary. 

And it's after one of those sessions that the woman retires to her own room for a nap, throwing herself across the bed and shutting herself off from the world. That’s when he makes his move. Easing his way out from beneath the plush comforter, moving at an agonizingly slow pace, jaw locked into a sour grimace as unused muscles trembled with the effort.

He was lucky the woman was a heavy sleeper. With the number of things he bumped into, it sounded more like he was robbing the place then trying to sneak out. Atlus wailed behind him, skittering along the far wall, tail flicking in annoyance. The shadow cat seemed to know what he was up to and was determined to put an end to it.

“Ssssh!.” Jesse put a finger to his lips while unlocking the door with the other, “You keep quiet and I’ll bring you back something nice, hear?” 

That seemed to catch the familiar’s attention, and he stopped in his tracks, ears alert.

“Good kitty,” A grin makes its way across his lips and in the blink of an eye, he’s gone. 

Yrodon is a city of stone, carved deep into the side of the mountain. It's natural defense and location made it a popular hub for both trade and information. Buildings mounted high into the rock face with brightly painted roofs to add a splash of color into the normally drab and gray decor. It's cold, but not uncomfortably so. The sun is hidden behind a thick curtain of clouds and the sky is dyed a depressing milky white.

And yet the streets are already bustling with people going about their business. Barely sparing him a passing glance except for an occasional curious look at the swollen purple bruises on his face. But, other than that, Jesse is relatively ignored as he makes his way through the city taking in the sights and sounds of the great stone city. So overcome with awe that he didn’t notice that he’d caught the attention on someone.

But what he does notice is the sudden chilling silence. All sound all but vanishing in a matter of seconds. No more children giggling as they weave in and out of the market stalls, or merchants trying to entice passersby to take a look at their wares.

Nothing, save for a child.

There’s nothing outright strange about them from why he can see, they’re small in stature, thin and wiry with inky black hair that clings to their skull in wee soggy clumps. They’re dressed to combat the early morning chill, warm woolen coat, and thick boots. But, the buttons are broken, chipped and hanging by their last threads. And the coat hangs off their body like a second skin.

They finally realize that they’ve caught his attention, and a smile breaks out across their freckles face, “Hello.”

As soon as the child speaks Jesse knows something is wrong. The voice that slithers through those lips cannot belong to a child. It seeps into his skin-into his lungs, paralyzing him from the inside out. A curtain of dread falling over him as the child’s grin widened at the panicked expression slowly overtaking Jesse’s face.

“You’re new here, aren’t you?” Their tone lowers, tightening its grip on Jesse’s mind. He’s frozen, helpless. “Didn’t you parents ever warn you about going out alone?”

Their smile is cruel.


	4. Death Walker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Contrary to the feelings of safety and security that a city might bring up, they have their own monsters dwelling within their walls. Newcomers beware

Their smile is cruel, an unnatural twist of their facial features that morphs their visage into a grotesque mockery of what it once was.

A shudder shoots up Jesse’s spine, thin sheen of sweat dappling his skin in its wake. The child hasn’t moved an inch, but his instincts are screaming for him to run. To flee from this place-from this thing, until his legs give out.

And he would, if he were able to actually move at all. The child’s gaze has him paralyzed breath frozen in his lungs.

“You should be more careful…” The child continues, advancing slowly. Step after over exaggerated step. The lilting tone of their voice growling over his skin like a swarm of insects. Tiny pinpricks across his flesh, settling like a rock in the center of his chest. Smiling all the while. “Cities can be quite dangerous for the...underprepared.”

Already, there’s a quivering in his lungs. A burning sensation that dredges up the fear and despair from just a few days prior.

He’s suffocating.

And the way Jesse’s eyes widen only causes the child’s glee to increase. Smile growing as Jesse’s trembling increases. Eyes rolling back as they inhale slowly, bony fingers clawing at gaunt cheeks. 

“There it is….that acrid shock of fear…” Their voice cracks, breath harsh and erratic. Euphoria bleeding into their expression as they inhae again. Long and almost comically drawn out. “It always was my favorite part of devouring humans,” The child laughs again, finely pointed teeth peeking past chapped lips. “The way your fear seeps into the flesh right before you die.”

Humans.

For a moment, Jesse’s confused by the word, as if his mind couldn’t comprehend the reason why another person would refer to him as nothing more than a human. But, as the child continues speaking, the words sink in. 

Feeding.

It said feeding...on humans.

The words settle in Jesse’s gut, heavy and oppressive. Chaining the already immobilized boy to the stones below his feet.

“I can smell your fear from here.” All light has left their eyes by now, pupils growing, expanding until the empty blackness has swallowed everything. Pulsing behind the surface of their eyes until the pressure is too great, and the soft membrane splits with a tiny squish. Allowing the ichor to fall forth unchallenged. “....More.”

The dark mass spreads, dribbling down the child’s- could it still be referred to as a child? The liquid slithers past their lips, painting their tongue and shark-like teeth the same dark color. 

Jesse’s chest feels like it's on fire, lungs burning and diaphragm clenching as hi body tries and fails to suck in the air it so desperately needs. But, to no avail. A pounding has started up in his head, sharp and painful.

The hustle and bustle of the town above just barely drowns out his attackers next words. But, they aren’t ones Jesse needs to hear to understand. They seem to be injected straight into his brain, bypassing his ears entirely.

“Show me more of that fear.”

The crack that erupts from their jaw makes his stomach churn. The bone splitting right down the middle and jutting outward as the skin on their face is pulled taut. But, it's not just their jaw, muscles shifting beneath the flesh as if it has a life of its own. 

It tears, long strings of flesh snapping over jagged bone and rotting muscle. All dripping with the same black substance. Body twisting and stretching, straining and failing to contain a form too large for its body. Bones breaking and reforming. Growing. It hunches over, curling in on itself with a groan that sounds more relieved than pained. Shoulders quivering.

It almost looks like it's laughing.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

“That little asshole!” Frustration coats the curses that fall from Kallista’s lips as she storms through the city of Yrodon. Searching frantically for the boy who had snuck out during her nap, “He’s not supposed to be walking yet!”

The streets are busy, filled to the brim with midday traffic. People running errands and talking to their neighbors in the street. Though none of them pay too much attention to the woman bolting down the road, following something none of them can see.

Atlus darts between the city goers, shifting between their shadows like a leech. Bright emerald eyes glancing back ever so often. It was the familiar who had warned her of Jesse’s disappearance, screaming up a storm and all but ripping his master from an already fitful sleep.

The boy had snuck out, the same boy who had barely been able to stand on his own. What little belongings he’d had on him when Gabriel had dropped him off were missing as well.

And for a moment, Kallista wondered if the boy could actually be that bull headed. To wander out alone into a city that he didn’t know in such a weakened state. Taking his chances out on the streets instead of recovering in relative comfort like any sane person.

Atlus yowls as he darts to the left, leaving the shadow of a portly middle aged woman to fuse instead with the far stone wall. He pauses only for a moment, form flickering before darting down the stars that curve backwards and lead down into an alley, hackles rising. And Kallista slides around the corner after him, barely taking the time to slow down, “This way?!”

The area is tucked away from the main street, carved out beneath the stone street. HIdden from view of prying eyes. And that fact makes her shudder, like being slapped in the face with a bucket of ice water.

The air is oppressive, weighing down on her lungs with every step she takes away from the main road. And as her boots meet the bottom of the stone stairs a voice reaches her ears, low and abrasive. The guttural tones scratching against her psyche as if the sound alone has claws. 

And it's a sensation Kallista knows all too well. The otherworldly tone of a Death Walker.

But, it's not Gabriel’s voice-it's too high and wispy. And yet, there hadn’t been any signs of other Death Walkers in the city.

At least none she knew about.

Atlus lurches ahead, form growing as his body eats the shadows around it, absorbing it. Growing. By the time he makes it below the outcropping he’s the size of a cow. Claws out and fangs bared, bright blue mist seeping from between dagger sharp teeth.

A crash resounds throughout the area. A roar shaking the very stones beneath Kallista’s feet as she bolts around the corner after Atlus, ignoring the burst of pain in her shoulder as it collides with the uneven edge of the stone wall. Chest heaving and lightning dancing across her outstretched fingers.

It takes her a moment to realize what she’s seeing. The boy is there, Jesse, off to the side. Back pressed against the stone, skin clammy as his eyes stay locked with the monstrosity before him that’s currently grappling with Atlus. He’s swaying, body trembling on weakened limbs.

The thing is a mass of bone and limbs. Distorted flesh and claws. And hands. Way too many hands.

Thin, bony sticks with agonizingly thin fingers bursting out of its chest and shoulder. Eerily fast and sharp as daggers as they whip around in a futile attempt to defend itself from the large feline clinging to it's back. Claws curled deep into the greyed flesh.

On its face are the all too familiar remnants of what had once been a bone white mask, dozens of marble-sized eyes still lining the rims. But, this one has shattered straight down the middle. Falling away in chips.

A Death Walker with a shattered mask.

This is new-something Kallist has never seen before. And what lays between the remnants is enough to make her stomach churn. Rows upon rows of serrated teeth framed with thin mandible-like protrusions that end in tiny hooks. All dripping with a strange black substance.

While the creature before her may be the same as Gabriel, it most certainly isn’t him.

The one before her snarls, body twisting as it tries to grab the lithe feline on it's back. Hands grasping at air, “Stupid cat!” In a flurry of limbs, it launches itself back towards the wall, colliding with the stone in an attempt to crush the familiar.

But, Atlus is ready, detaching from the demon’s form and slipping into the shadows at the last second. Teeth bared in a silent snarl.

“Don’t think you’re safe just because your body isn’t solid!” It's mouth stretches, gaping wide like a cavern as it bellows, “ I will devour you all the same!”

Searing pain, like daggers in her skull as the demon’s cry resounds throughout the area. For a split second, her vision goes dark and Kallista sways on her feet. Resistance or no, the full force of a Death Walker’s voice is powerful.

“Jesse!” The boy jerks at the sound of his name, still frozen in place. Eyes wide and unfocused. He’s too far under to do much by the looks of it. But, they need to move. As much faith as Kallista has in her magic, she’s not ready to fight something like this, especially while trying to protect someone. “Jesse, can you hear me!?”

Atlus springs forth once again, keeping the Death Walker’s attention on him, sinking his teeth into the muscled flesh of the demon’s shoulder before those hands wind their way into his incorporeal form and rip him off. Tearing a nice chunk of flesh from it's back in the process. He slams into the ground with a yelp, limbs flailing for just a moment before he’s up and on his feet again.

But, a moment is all it takes.

One second Atlus is standing tall, fangs bared and hackles raised. The next he’s being wrenched around by the very fangs he was using to attack. Slammed into the far wall as if he weighed nothing more than a few pounds. Dark droplets staining the stones as the demon uncurls one of its many fingers and a single large fang tumbles to the ground.

Atlus isn’t going to last long on his own. The realization rings hollow in her thoughts, mind racing as she tries to formulate a plan with just seconds to spare.

What can she do against a Death Walker? What were their weaknesses? Panic begins to set in as her mind continues to draw a blank. Why couldn’t she remember-did she ever know?

Her gaze travels back over to the boy, trembling and forehead dotted with sweat.

She has to get him out of here. 

The demon turns it's back on them, focus specifically on the familiar scrambling to its feet, tongue prodding at the now vacant spot where a tooth had been. A thin streak of crimson staining his tongue.

“I’ll eat you first, you sorry excuse for a soul!” Its entire body shakes with anger, black ichor drooling from its maw.

Now’s my only chance. With its attention diverted, she’s finally able to make her way over to Jesse unseen. His flesh is oddly clammy beneath her hands as she covers his ears. Electricity crackles against his skin where their flesh meets. Tendrils of blue lightning arcing their way up the strands of auburn hair. And the smile she offers is sympathetic but doesn’t stop her from releasing the charge she’s built up right into his skull.

Jesse jolts, body tensing, muscles seizing as electricity courses through his muscles. Crackling in his ears, rattling his teeth. But, the shock is exactly what his system needs. Relaxing his mind from the onslaught of the Death Walker’s voice. It's hold on him weakens and the weight on his chest disappears all at once.

And suddenly he can breathe again, chest expanding as his instincts take over and Jesse gasps. Choking down mouthfuls of the smoke tinted air as if it was the purest thing in the world. Coughing and hacking until his throat is raw and sore.

“Are you alright, can you breathe!?”

Spittle coats his lips, dribbles down his chin as he coughs once more. Color finally returning to his skin. He shudders, shaking his head as he holds out an arm, waving Kallista off before motioning to the two figures doing battle mere feet away from him, “What the fuck is that thing!?”

Kallista frowns, hands still clamped over Jesse’s ears as she speaks. “It's a Death Walker.”

“A Death Walker?” His nose scrunches up as the words only bring more confusion, “The hell is a-”

“-A soul that’s been corrupted and forced into an eternal state of undeath,” Kallista cuts in quickly. “They feed on dying souls.” Slowly she begins to back away, pulling Jesse with her. Her eyes are trained on the battle ahead, hard and calculating as she watches Atlus try to hold his own against the creature. “As soon as I take my hands off your ears, you cover them and run. Run all the way back to my place, you remember the way, right?”

“Well, yeah…” A frown slowly makes it's way across Jesse’s face as his body is physically turned toward the stone stairs that lead up to the main road. Vision torn away from the fight at hand. “Can we even outrun that thing?”

“You can’t outrun them…” The witch’s voice is hard, serious. “Once one becomes fixated on you, it has to be killed, there are no other options.” 

Those aren’t the words he’d been hoping to hear, heart picking up the pace once again as fear began to take hold. “So, what are we going to do!?”

His fear permeates the air, a sharp tang on the air that halts the demon mid-stride. A pair of spindly arms curled around Atlus’ thick neck. Bulbous form going rigid as a statue before the split head whips around to face them. All the eyes focusing on the two humans off to the right. Stare and focus so intent that it completely ignores the claws raking cruel grooves into its flesh. The twisted halves of its face warping into a gruesome smile.

Dread slithers down Kallista’s spine as she shoves Jesse away, electricity arcing from where her hands had met his flesh. She spins, pivoting on her heels to face the approaching Death Walker, “You are going to run!”

“Oh no, little ones.” A resounding crack pierces the air and Atlus’ shadowy form slips from the demon’s grip, falling to the ground with a thump, lifeless. “Both of you are going to die.”

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * 

Jesse stumbles, backing away as the Death Walker begins it's slow, almost taunting advance. The cold press of brick meeting his back, along with the sharp press of metal digging into the space near his spine. The sensation is just enough to pull his attention away from the sparkling blue bolts that streak down from the sky. Dying the demons already grey flesh a charred black, but does nothing to halt its advance.

His fingers reach behind him, searching blindly for the pistol that he knows has been against his back ever since he left home. Tucked safely within his wool coat. The grip is cool and smooth against his clammy palm as he withdraws it, holding it aloft. The muzzle’s tip gleaming in the low, cloudy light. Hands shaking.

He doesn’t even know if the thing will fire--if it will have any effect on this hellish creature at all. Every ounce of his being is screaming at him to run, to take Kallista’s words to heart and hide haul ass back to her hut and hide behind the runes that he knows will keep him safe.

But, he can’t. Something is keeping him from moving again.

Those needle like fingers are too fast, and her lightning, too weak. It takes the bolts head on without any signs of stopping. Latching onto her leg as she tries to run, each thin finger piercing the flesh and delving deep into the muscles and veins within. It's gleeful laughter drowning out the frustrated scream she produces even as she hurled yet another arc of lightning at its face.

The thing laughs, bringing it's other hands crashing down on Kallista’s prone form with enough force to send chunks of stone flying into the air. 

The image flashes in his mind, stone replaced with barren soil. Clouds with scorching sun, and yet the blood staining the ground is the same. The same dark shining pool that had stained the front steps of his home.

Madness, it's the only way he could describe the sudden impulse that has him pulling the trigger as hard as he can, as many times as he can. Cylinder clicking over before a small, single explosion erupts from the barrel, sending a tiny bead hurtling through the air at immense speed.

But, it isn’t a bullet that collides with the demon, but something much larger, stronger, and full of a rage that makes the fear they just tasted beforehand pale in comparison.

The second figure that comes clamoring over the tiled roofs is much larger than the first, landing between Jesse and the encroaching demon. Exposed ribcage heaving, bones rattling as it's four large arms dig into what remains of the stone below. Hunkering down as the mass of writhing tentacles that make up it's lower half whip back and forth erratically as it produces a low, haunting hiss that seems to come from the very air around them. The second figure having no visible mouth anywhere on its body. Bone white mask pristine and uncracked as every one of those blazing crimson eyes swivels around to focus on it's target. 

“If you don’t want to lose what shreds of your soul still remain, you will remove your hands from her and release what is mine. This. City. Is. Mine!!”


End file.
